Blake’s 7, Series 1
by Terry Nation (BBC, 1978)
Terry Nation’s scripts present as increasingly ham-fisted but the guest stars are generally very good and the regulars are so well cast as to become immediately iconic. The edgy character dynamics give the programme punch beyond its dated parade of SF tropes.
Blake’s 7: The Way Back and Cygnus Alpha
by Trevor Hoyle (BBC Audio, 2010)
[first published as Terry Nation’s Blake’s 7 by Sphere, 1977]
{Read by Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow, respectively}
A slavish and perfunctory novelisation of the first four episodes of Terry Nation’s dystopian space opera, its cult appeal lent a smidgeon of additional credibility in audio form by the narrative voices of series actors Gareth Thomas (Blake) and Paul Darrow (Avon).
The Man Who Invented the Daleks: The Strange Worlds of Terry Nation
by Alwyn W. Turner (Aurum, 2011)
Turner exhaustively researches Terry Nation’s life, shows how the Daleks developed both along- and inside British culture of the 60s and 70s, and contextualises the infamous pepperpots within the broader scope of Nation’s work, from which scrutiny their creator emerges somewhat diminished.